Hemp, The Fabric Of The Past Is Becoming The Fabric Of The Future
Plants are known for their medicinal properties, but did you know that many kinds of plants, fruits, and flowers are now being used in fabrics too? One of them is hemp - a species of Cannabis Sativa. It was legalised to be cultivated in Uttarakhand in 2018 and is now being used by brands for making products that are good for the planet.
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Aslee, an eco-conscious brand, co-founded by Zoya Wahi and Nitij Singh, works with hemp, bamboo and nettle to make sustainable products. Being an extremely viable fabric, hemp increases the fertility of the soil, requires little water to grow and flourishes without chemicals.
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Nettle is considered to be a carbon-neutral fibre with no wastage and it can be as versatile as hemp. Giving out more details about Nettle and how it is used, Zoya said, "Nettle is one of the strongest fibres that you will come across. It lasts very long. So, there is no reason for these fabrics not to be alternatives to the things that we have been using currently and abusing almost by overusing them."
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Aslee works with a small community of makers, mainly employing women in under-serviced areas they try and give them a stable livelihood. Aslee procures fabric only from factories that have basic set criteria that make these people's lives liveable and pay them fair wages. The brand sources most of its material from Bhartiya Gramotthan Sanstha.
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In 1989, P. M. Chandola founded Bhartiya Gramotthan Sanstha with employment generation as the core objective. To achieve its goal, the organisation emphasises on local raw material-based employment and gives opportunities to women. Bhartiya Gramotthan Sanstha promotes handicraft products with the local raw material available in the villages and also the use of plant-based fibres for textile fabrics.
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The products that B'leaf launched initially were bags and hemp protein. The first product was hemp protein which they call hemp seed powder. Explaining how it's made, Divyanshu Kumar, Co-founder and CEO of B'leaf said, "On processing and crushing, hemp seeds produce oil. Once the oil has been extracted, the cake that remains is where the hemp seed powder protein comes from."
